Importers of HS 8544.49 (of copper) from Taiwan actually paid 15.13% on the taxed portion of the value in 2026-06 — 14.99% across everything shipped, taxed or not. Measured from official duty receipts, not the rulebook: the statutory MFN base rate on this code is 5.3%. Over the window the rate on the taxed portion moved 4.5% → 15.13%, with the largest single step +6.7pp in 2025-08. Measured from official US duty receipts · as-of 2026-06 · confidence: measured, not modelled. The HTS base rate is 5.3% — importers actually paid 15.13%, so the trade-war overlay added 9.8 pts, measured at the border (not a summed rulebook estimate). Reproduce exactly: tariff_story(hs: "8544.49", origin: "Taiwan") · see it at trimtabist.com/tariffs
HS 8544.49. The schedule base rate is 5.3%; importers from Taiwan actually paid 15.13% on the dutiable value in 2026-06 — the trade-war overlay added 9.8 points, measured at the border. Measured, not modelled.
Over the window the collected rate moved 4.5% (2023-07) → 15.13% (2026-06), largest single step +6.7pp in 2025-08.
Taiwan's lower duty (14.99% vs 42.33%) lets it price up to 23.8% above China at the factory and still match on duty-inclusive customs cost. But on the LATEST measured prices, China actually lands cheaper — $3.42/kg vs $11.95/kg (duty in, freight out).
2 Chapter-99 measures name Taiwan; scope mapping is partial (several annexes are PDFs) — absence never means exemption. They do not sum, and some are product-specific — the collected rate above is the composed truth.
All goods from Taiwan · the whole tariff ledger · 1 CBP ruling cite this code · reproduce: tariff_story(hs: "8544.49", origin: "Taiwan") via /connect. Not customs or legal advice.